The present invention relates to a device for carrying out a multiplicity of chemical, biochemical or physical processes in parallel, as defined in the preamble of the independent claim 1.
In chemical research in the pharmaceutical industry and the universities, it is becoming more and more important to discover a large number of potential active ingredients and to test the latter thoroughly as quick as possible. Part of the chemical research, therefore, currently deals with combinatory chemistry, parallel synthesis and high-speed chemistry. In this work, the possibility of being able to employ known or new types of chemical reactions as widely as possible with the least possible amount of adaptation is of central importance.
In consequence, the most varied types of devices have been created for carrying out a multiplicity of chemical, biochemical or physical processes in parallel. All of these processes, however, are either only suitable for special applications or are too complicated in construction, too large or are not user-friendly and/or do not permit the individual process steps to be sufficiently automated.
Such a type of device is being marketed by the company Bohdan Europe, France, under the designation RAM Synthesizer BHD 1524. This device comprises a switching block to which a multiplicity of reaction vessels are removably fastened. Gases are supplied to and/or extracted from the reaction vessels through a gas duct in a reaction vessel fastening plate, and liquids are supplied and/or extracted by means of hollow needles through the switching block, the needles penetrating through septa arranged in the switching block and the septa forming a seal for the reaction vessels.
This device has the disadvantage that in order to shake the reaction vessels, the complete switching block, together with the reaction vessels, has to be transferred to a separate shaking device. Shaking during the supply of liquid, which is often necessary or even essential, is impossible. In addition, all the reactions are carried out under septa, which is problematicxe2x80x94particularly in the case of aggressive solventsxe2x80x94because the septa can be impaired by the solvents. This can lead to a loss of leak-tightness of the septa, on the one hand and to pollution of the reaction medium, on the other. In addition, the septa lose leak-tightness after a plurality of penetrations, so that the employment of vacuum or positive pressure without manual intervention is not possible to a sufficient extent. Furthermore, the reaction vessels cannot be completely opened and closed automatically.
In view of the disadvantages of the previously known devices, as described above, the invention is based on the following object. This is to create a device for carrying out, in parallel, a multiplicity of chemical, biochemical or physical processes of the type mentioned at the beginning, by means of which device a plurality of various process steps, in particular the employment of vacuum or positive pressure and the supply and extraction of liquids, gases and/or solids can be undertaken without the switching block or switching blocks having to be displaced or converted.
This object is achieved by means of the device according to the invention, as it is defined in the independent claim 1. Preferred embodiment variants are provided by the dependent claims.
The essence of the invention consists in the fact that in a device for carrying out a multiplicity of chemical, biochemical or physical processes in parallel, having at least one switching block to which are fastened a multiplicity of reaction vessels in a removable or fixed manner, it being possible for liquids, gases and/or solids to be supplied to and/or extracted from the reaction vessels through the switching block, the switching block comprises at least one gas duct plate with at least one gas duct and at least one adjacent functional plate, at least one of these plates being arranged so that it can be displaced relative to the other. The gas duct plate or plates and the functional plate or plates have through-holes, through-slots and/or depressions, which are respectively located opposite to one another in at least one plate position in such a way that
a) gases and/or liquids can be supplied to or extracted from at least one reaction vessel via the gas duct or via at least one gas duct and
b) gases, liquids and/or solids can be supplied to or extracted from at least one reaction vessel both through the gas duct plate or through at least one gas duct plate and through the functional plate or through at least one functional plate.
By means of this device it is possible, depending on the plate position, to supply or extract liquids or gases to or from all or individual reaction vessels via the gas duct or ducts and/or to generate a vacuum or a positive pressure in the reaction vessels and/or to supply or extract gases, liquids and/or solids through mutually opposite through-holes or through-slots in the gas duct plate or plates and in the functional plate or plates to or from the reaction vessels with or without pressure balance. The sealing of the reaction vessels takes place by the functional plate or at least one functional plate in certain plate positions, so that septa are not absolutely necessary. It is therefore possible to dispense with the employment of a septum or, in any event, it can be arranged in such a way that it is only used as a seal for the reaction vessels in certain plate positions. In consequence, it is possible to avoid the problems with the devices of the state of the art, as mentioned above and in which septa always form the seal of the reaction vessels.
Because of the functional plate or plates, various process steps can be carried out without the relevant switching block having to be displaced or converted. The functional plate or plates also permit a compact construction of the switching blocks.
A commercially obtainable sampler combined with a dilutor such as the Gilson ASPEC XL by the Gilson company, France, or another robot or another automatic unit, which may possibly be adapted to the switching blocks and reaction vessels according to the invention, can be used for operating these switching blocks and reaction vessels.
The reaction vessels are advantageously fastened to the switching block by means of movable connectors. The reaction vessels can then be shaken without the relevant switching block also moving. In addition, the whole weight of the reaction vessels, including contents, does not rest on the shaking device so that relatively weak shaking devices, which generate relatively small vibrations, suffice. Only this permits at all the employment of vibration-sensitive peripheral units, such as for example vibration-sensitive samplers, robots or other automatic devices for supplying and/or removing liquids and/or solids. Furthermore, an essential advantage resides in the fact that even during the shaking, a liquid or a solid can be supplied to and/or extracted from a reaction vessel without difficulty by means of a supply and/or extraction tool, such as for example hollow needles, grippers or spoons, which is not the case with the previously known devices.
Such connectors advantageously have a bellows between a part at the reaction vessel end and a part at the switching block end. As an alternative to the bellows, a flexible tube or a ball joint are, for example, conceivable.
For certain applications, a removable reflux condenser is preferably arranged between at least one of the reaction vessels and the switching block, which reflux condenser has a cooling tube, which extends sufficiently far into the reaction vessel for cooling to take place in the reaction vessel in the reaction vessel and reflux condenser connection region or below it. The cooling tube is then advantageously arranged in only one half of the cross section of the opening of the reaction vessel.
In this way, a liquid can be supplied to the reaction vessel, a protective gas, gaseous reactant, gaseous catalyst or a solid can be added to the reaction vessel and/or a pressure balance can be achieved, for example by means of a supply tool or via the gas duct or a gas duct, at the same time as the reflux condensing. All these interventions in the reaction vessel take place through the same opening, which contributes to the fact that the device according to the invention can be constructed in a relatively compact and low-cost manner and is maintenance-friendly and operator-friendly.